mp3 wrote:Two nice wins over two teams that can be tough, any thoughts on bring in Camby?

Probably not. Camby would be a nice addition, but I'm not sure who I'd give away for him.

Thierry • wrote:Nice to see Z-Bo in New Jersey. I'm also on the Dragic bandwagon

Before the season started, I thought New Jersey would be a monster team with D-Wil, Shannon Brown, Z-Bo, and Brook Lopez. Ever since D-Wil got injured, it's all been down hill for them, and they also desperately need a bench. They could use a Goran Dragic any day of the week.

Lamrock wrote:You're rolling. Cool/sad to see Roy and Oden on Portland here.

Despite that they're still underachieving kind of like the RL Blazers. Maybe Portland isn't meant to be good?

I should be able to finish Week 12 this weekend and get that posted, that's good news. Bad news is I still don't think I'll have time to update this frequently within the next few weeks.

Courtney Lee hits the difficult double-clutch layup. | Wilson Chandler playing the go-to-guy role for Denver.

Like the last three games between these teams, this game was highly anticipated around the NBA. With the Denver Nuggets leading the season series 2-1, the pressure was on the Houston Rockets to take this one at home, and more importantly, secure a tighter lead on the first place spot in the Western Conference. If you look at the score, it would probably indicate that there was no pressure at all, and that this was just one game out of 1,230 NBA regular season games.

Denver caught the Rockets off guard, getting off to a fast start, and keeping them down through the first six minutes of the game. Houston scored six unanswered to gain their first lead of the game, and would hold that lead for the rest of the first quarter.

Things weren't going so well for Houston despite the lead; both Yao Ming and Shane Battier got into foul trouble, having to sit out the majority of the period. In addition, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin scored the first 17 points for Houston amongst themselves, Martin finishing with a game high 39. Denver's high man was Wilson Chandler, who scored 22 points and also grabbed six rebounds.

The Nuggets came to play in the second quarter and ran circles around the Rockets defense, scoring 35 in the quarter to get a one point lead at halftime. In contrast to that run however, Denver managed a miserable 15 points in the third quarter, falling into a cold spell all throughout the second half. Denver would shoot 34% in the second half, compared to 51% in the first. They shot 42% for the game, but they had no answer for Houston's bulldozing offense, which racked up 49% from the field and 34 assists.

Shane Battier was one of six double-digit scorers for the Rockets. | Chris Paul knocks down a three to end the first half.

When you factor in that Trevor Ariza was out with a Broken Jaw, David West spent the entire first half in foul trouble, and Chris Paul's limited shot attempts, and you have a New Orleans team with a bunch of no name players, either second round picks or moderately decent players.

And that's how the score came to be. The Rockets destroyed the Hornets in the second and fourth quarters, outscoring them by double digits in both quarters. Kevin Martin remains the high man for Houston as he scored a game high 29, and received help from his fellow starters Yao Ming and Luis Scola who each scored 18. Shane Battier was hot converting on all six of his field goal attempts on route to 15 points.

For New Orleans, West and Paul scored 20 each. Apart from them, rookie Jeremy Tyler had a decent game scoring 13 points on 5/10 shooting, but nobody else from the New Orleans roster stepped up to play.

"You can tell it's (Chris) Paul and (David) West carrying this team. If you take them out, there would be no hope for Hornets fans," Kyle Lowry said.

Houston shot an amazing 55% from the field, compared to New Orleans' 44%. The other story, is Houston destroyed New Orleans on the boards 48-28.

After three games in a row that ended up being complete laughers, two against above-average teams, are the Rockets primed to go on a big win streak? Will anyone be able to stop them?

It is rather surprising to win blowout teams back-to-back, especially when they're in playoff contention.

It's been about an entire month since my last update. I really have no idea when the next one is, but I sure don't see it coming in the next four weeks either. No matter what happens though, I have no plans to retire this; I'm sure there will be a point later on down the road where I will have a lot of spare time again, hopefully.

WOW, it sure has been a while. I might write a summary later on to refresh everyone's memory (and mine) on what went on in this association before this long leave of absence. Hoping to be able to resume this next week.

Martti. wrote:What's K-Mart's True Shooting Percentage?

I can't remember the exact number, but I'm pretty sure it's in the high 50's, low 60's.

Lol yeah. It's part laziness on me too. Now that the Rockets have completely revamped their roster in real life, I'd like to see how far I can go with this roster. I don't know if I can get motivated to start again though. I start college in less than three weeks. So three weeks is all I have left of freedom.

I have come to a decision to resume this starting late this month/early next month. I hope you guys don't mind that I'm about a year behind today's time with this one, and that the rosters are drastically different compared to RL. Either way, I hope to finish this season and (probably unlikely) do one more to retire this one. I will start a 2K13 association in the future, but not with the Rockets (well, not the current ones anyway). As a sidenote, I am only gonna do game recaps and occasional articles, so the chapters will have to come to a stop. I didn't even know where I was going with the plot anyways.

Lamrock wrote:Glad we'll be getting closure on this. I'd recommend simming the season and tying up all the loose plot ends in one final chapter, but that's just me.

That's not a bad idea. It'll be hard to think of something though; my plot had more of a detective-like atmosphere. Don't know how I'd tie up that loose end.

rise wrote:Trade for James Harden whose beard just becomes too awesome for everyone else to handle and every other team in the league gives up and you automatically win a championship. Nice easy finish.

Too easy imo. I am continuing this in order to go my own way and not imitate RL too much.

Stress Fracture wrote:I miss the NLSC draftees tournament.

Yeah, I do as well. It's fun watching the computer play.

I've gone back and read about three pages back and it brought back good memories, and a bit of motivation to continue. What I am short on is time, but like I said, I should be able to resume this in about three weeks. I will play out the rest of this season and sim about 2-3 more seasons only for NLSC Draftees to know how their players panned out in the league. Soon enough, I will post a decent-length summary of what has happened so far, because this association differs so much from real life at this point.

As I said two weeks ago, this will resume sometime in the near future. Before I continue with this however, I'd like to refresh everyone's memories on what has happened so far. This is so the updates don't seem out of context to the regular readers, and so the new readers won't have to go back and see how everything happened. But I don't even know where to begin...

To start off, this is the 2011-12 season, which was last year's season. I am currently 40 games into the season, and stand at 30-10. But first off, let me inform you how the 2010-11 season went for us. We finished 58-24, good for first seed in the Western Conference. We swept the LA Clippers in the first round, after Eric Gordon went down in Game One. We defeated the Spurs in five games in the second round (Tim Duncan was out for the season), but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Finals. The Mavs were the eventual champions, edging out the Miami Heat in seven games to win the title. Dirk Nowitzki won the Finals MVP. Playoff tree here. This is the fullest playoff tree I have, I think.

In the offseason, many changes happened. This is where my story began to take a different path to real life. For one, the 2011 Draft went a different way. You can see the full draft list here. Offseason changes are here. Also, all recaps ever done are here, and you can also scroll up to see other non-game related stuff.

To summarize the plot-line (Rocket chapters) of my story, the main character is an older version of myself who was hired as Assistant GM of the Rockets. As a conspiracist, he worked to put David Stern down for rigging the 2002 WCF in favor of the Lakers. It's a cool little twisted plotline, I'd recommend reading it in its entirety to get more juice out of it. The plotline I was currently working on was that Daryl Morey (GM of the Rockets) was deliberately hit by an eighteen-wheeler, and along with his "detective spy" buddies, the main character is trying to track down the culprit. In the meantime, the main character is serving as interim GM of the Rockets, though headquarter employees aren't all too happy with his tyrannical way of running things. As time is short, I will (most likely) not be continuing the Rocket chapters, but if time allows, I will end it all in one mega chapter. You can find all Rocket chapters here (scroll down a little).

As you can see, Patrick Patterson is the only player my team has in common to real life's Rockets team. For the love of Yao, I decided not to retire him in this story, but to develop his career. Kevin Martin is the star of the team, averaging well over 30 points per game this season. At the point in time I'm at right now, most of the other players were still on the real life roster, so it's not like I have outright refused to shake things up (lol).

Also, if you are wondering who Brad Halstead is, he was a generated player in my Rockets Live 10 story. I gave him a personality that everybody loved (arrogant, self-centered prick) and thanks to all the positive feedback, I gave him life in this story. It is unlikely he will be in my next story (2K13), since I plan to use a different team, and he was probably long forgotten until I mentioned him right now.

The current and most recent standings (that I have posted) for the season are here. This is more of an around the league report.

As for trades this season, I've only done a couple. The first, I traded Aaron Brooks and Chase Budinger to Phoenix in exchange for Goran Dragic and a first round pick. The Suns are bottom of the league here, so this first round pick is super valuable for the 2012 draft. The second trade is a little complicated, but I'll list it below:

And last but not least, the NLSC players. The list of them is here (don't bother filling out the application if you're new), and also what team and their draft order. The NLSC Tournament, which is a competition between the NLSC draftees of the current year, will be continued, but not that this current one will be the last of the story. The full description of it is here.

There you have it. I know this is a little vague and I could have gone into further detail, but it's still quite a bit to take in. If you have any questions about something that is unclear or there's something you'd like to add, let me know. I will be resuming this in about two weeks, but until then, I 've gotta knock out this pile of homework in front of me.

Lamrock, thanks for the tip. That will definitely make things go faster if my team needs a human boost to win a game.

Two weeks left until the fall semester in college is over. I took advantage of this Thanksgiving break to get back into the rhythm of video games. Tried out 2K13 and from the looks of things, it will be difficult to transition in between both 2K13 and 2K11; I just know I'm gonna mess up trying to dribble with just the right stick in 2K11. Will try to get an update this week.

Lowry played great second fiddle this game. | Kevin Martin shows he's much in the clutch, knocks down the game-winner.

Dwight Howard had a strong game, but not strong enough. | Arenas had a sub-par shooting game, which is part of the reason for the loss.

The Orlando Magic started off strong, with JJ Redick getting the first three points of the game. From there, Orlando would chuck up 25 three-point attempts, connecting on nine of them. Threes were a part of the reason Orlando kept themselves alive in this one. Redick shot 3/9 from downtown, Jameer Nelson shot 3/5, and Gilbert Arenas shot 2/6. Arenas was the high point man for Orlando with 22 points, but on a bad 8/22 shooting. Dwight Howard meanwhile notched a double-double of 20 points and 13 boards, accompanied by four blocks as he led the Magic to dominate the inside.

Houston on the other hand, had powerful contributions from Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and Kyle Lowry. Martin had a game high 28 points to go along with four rebounds and assists apiece, and shot 12/20 from the field. Lowry had a huge first half in the assists department with eight for the half, finishing with 19 points and nine dimes. Scola had a near double-double of 15 points, nine boards, shooting 6/10 from the field.

Orlando had to play catch up all game long, and with less than a minute left, they were down 101-95. Two costly turnovers, and two consecutive three-pointers later, the Magic miraculously tied the game at 101 equal with 14 seconds left in the game. The Rockets put the ball in Martin's hands; he drove right but was cut off by Arenas, and then drove across the top of the arc, and pulled up for a 16-foot elbow jumper. He knocked it down with 4.4 seconds remaining to put the Rockets up 103-101.

On the other end, the Orlando Magic did not use their four seconds wisely, and Arenas ended up firing up a long desperation three that was nowhere near making it, as Orlando's catch up effort fell short on their home floor.

Notes: Both teams shot 47% from the field, but Houston won the battle of the boards 48-39.

Scola provided a necessary scoring boost to pull off the win. | Martin had a relatively mediocre game.

Despite his twisted ankle, Granger scored a game high 30 points. | Hibbert's jumpshot was smooth all game long.

It was Danny Granger's and Roy Hibbert's combination of 55 points that gave the Indiana Pacers the boost they needed. Thanks to this strong scoring duo, the Houston Rockets' biggest lead throughout the night was 10. At one point in the first quarter, Indiana held the lead for a brief few minutes, but from then on they trailed and kept the game very close.

"We were keeping them at bay but they kept snapping at our heels and we had to give it all we could so they wouldn't regain the lead," Kevin Martin, who had a team high 24 points, said.

Granger twisted his ankle on an and-one call that he converted over Martin, but was still able to play and knock down the free throw. He didn't seem very bothered by the injury, as he ended up scoring a game high 30 points on 12/23 shooting. The biggest reason for Indiana's downfall was lack of support to Granger and Hibbert, as the next best player was Patrick Mills with 13 points on a sub-par 4/14 shooting.

The Rockets shot 50% from the field compared to Indiana's 44%. That was the biggest difference, as Luis Scola scored 20 points on an efficient 9/13 shooting, and Kyle Lowry dropped a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists.

hova-, thanks man. It's a shame how the CPU is inept in late game situations. When you have a close game, and it's the CPU's turn to make a big play, you get disappointed because you were expecting something hard to defend but they fire up a pathetic desperation shot. But oh well, I got the win and that's what matters.

Dragic with a breakaway dunk. | KG pops a long distance turnaround jumper.

In what was a defensive stalemate, the Houston Rockets barely managed to scrape the win. Other than a brief lead the Celtics had in the rising minutes of the first quarter, the Rockets led the whole game. They had a five point lead after one.

The game remained close afterwards, with the Rockets occasionally pushing their lead out to 10, but the Celtics would come running back. Ray Allen's play kept them in it as he notched 16 points for the game. Kevin Garnett also had a big game for the C's as he had 19 points accompanied by 13 boards. For Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, it was a struggle. Pierce was held to poor shooting through three quarters by Shane Battier, but he got his act together in the fourth quarter. Rondo, the league leader in assists, was held to only three tonight and coughed up the ball eight times.

"He's their offensive anchor. If he becomes a non-factor, there is not much his teammates can do," were Rockets coach Rick Adelman's words.

Kevin Martin nearly notched a double-double with 21 points and nine boards, with four assists to go with that. He did not shoot the ball well, but Yao Ming provided some cushion as he scored 15 points on 7/11 shooting. Luis Scola had 13 points and eight boards to round out their performances nicely.

Despite Pierce's efforts (he had 12 points in the fourth quarter), the Rockets acquired a double-digit lead with about four minutes to go in the game. The Celtics did not lay down and submit, for they raced back with a 12-4 run in the next two minutes. With the score 90-88, Boston had the chance to tie or win the game, but a forced jumper from Rondo was off as Houston held on to win it.

Notes: Houston limited the Celtics to only 10 assists for the night. Disrupting their offensive flow, the Celtics shot 42% from the field. The Rockets weren't better off either, as they shot just 40% from the field but still managed 24 assists.

Yao Ming with a ferocious dunk! | Patrick Patterson gave the Rockets a nice spark off the bench.Ginobili's excellent second half was key to a Spurs victory. | Duncan's first half was just as excellent and key.

If you give up multiple wide open three pointers to a single player, it can completely shift the momentum of a game. That is the lesson learned here by the Rockets, as they allowed Manu Ginobili to fire up 5/8 from the third dimension. Ginobili finished with 28 points, seven boards, and five assists to become the player of the game.

San Antonio led almost the entire first quarter. Tim Duncan was having a great game early on as he went 5/6 from the field and 12 points for the quarter. For the Rockets, Kevin Martin had 11 points.

In the third quarter, things went topsy-turvy for the Rockets. Ginobili scored 14 of his 28 in this quarter, as the Spurs regained the lead midway through the quarter and kept it for the rest of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Ginobili knocked down what seemed to be the dagger three-pointer to give the Spurs a seemingly insurmountable 12-point lead. However, behind Martin's scoring (finished with a game high 32), Houston countered that with an 8-0 run. It wouldn't get any closer than the Rockets snapping at the Spurs' heels as they could not convert on an opportunity to tie the game at 102. San Antonio held on to put themselves above .500, while Houston's seven-game win streak came to a halt.

Notes: San Antonio outdid Houston on offense shooting 48% compared to the Rockets' 45%. Houston had a slight edge in assists at 26-24, but San Antonio commanded the boards 49-43 in this one.

Right now, NBA 2K13 is what is stopping me from updating this quicker. I will look to shelf it for now and then maybe sim a few games here to get through this quicker. I've been wanting to also catch up on other people's stories, but I've been busier than I thought I'd be this holiday.

Merry christmas, Axel. 2k13 is really good, the best 2k since 2k8 imho (from the improvements made). Good to see this one going though. Tough loss against the Spurs. Looks like a bit of luck would have won it for you.

After a minor slump, Kevin Martin is back to his scoring ways. | LeBron with a flashy dunk.

The last time these two teams faced off, it was in Miami. A game that came down to a game-winner from Chris Bosh, many expected this game to be a good one. The two best teams from either conference, it was a highly anticipated matchup.

The Houston Rockets had other plans for this game, however. After a relatively close first quarter bout, the Rockets pushed for an 11-0 run early in the second to push their lead to 14. Kevin Martin scored 15 first half points, and additionally converted on his first eight field goal attempts in this game. A late run from Miami to end the second quarter trimmed Houston's lead to just six.

Houston came out in the second half strong as they built an extensive 23-6 run. Their lead grew as big as 22. The Heat still had no answer for Martin, who finished with a game high 36 points. LeBron James top scored for Miami with 24.

In the fourth, the Heat were determined to trim this lead down. They managed to slim it down to 12, but ultimately even Houston's bench proved too powerful for the Heat on this night. Both teams are now tied for best record in the NBA.

"They were the better team tonight. The whistle wasn't blowing our way either, but that's the discretion of the officials to decide which way the whistle blows. We just gotta move on and learn from a game like this," Dwyane Wade said.

"We definitely didn't expect this. It definitely helped the team form a tighter bond knowing that this is the kind of offense we can build against an excellent defensive team like Miami," Yao Ming said.

Notes: The Rockets sabotaged Miami on the boards 51-30. Miami's lack of size was a factor in this one as Houston had 11 offensive rebounds, while they had only two themselves. Houston shot a blistering 54%, while Miami wasn't far behind with 50%.

Patrick Patterson continuing to show signs of promise. | Kevin Love's monster game helped the Wolves snap at the Rockets' heels.

Unlike last game, a blowout was most expected in this one. Minnesota provided resistance in the first quarter, but in the second, Houston stretched their lead to 19. However, Minnesota responded with an 11-2 run, managing to trim their deficit back to eight by halftime.

Things went as bad as they could go in the third quarter for the Wolves. The hole they found themselves went as deep as 25 points, as Houston was having their way. The Rockets feasted on Minnesota's turnovers as they came up with 11 steals for the game. They held Minnesota to only 13 points in the third quarter.

"Our offense was unorganized; it was a group of five players playing individually versus a group of five players playing as one. We had to change that in the fourth quarter," were Kevin Love's words. He had 20 points and 15 boards for the Wolves, as he sparked an excellent run in the fourth quarter.

The score being 81-60 after three, Rockets head coach Rick Adelman planned to rest his starters the whole fourth quarter. However, one mistake by Houston's bench players and the Wolves rushed to a 12-0 run, trimming the lead to 12.

"I was really enjoying the rest. I looked up at the scoreboard to see how the other guys were doing and they were closing in on us. Our rest was spoiled and we were called back in to finish the job," said Kevin Martin, referring to Houston's starters. Eventually, the Rockets did get the job done, as they closed out Minnesota behind Martin's 12 fourth quarter points. He finished with a game high 38.

Notes: Both teams shot 45% from the field, but Minnesota's 12 turnovers compared to just three from Houston was the key difference.

hova- wrote:Merry christmas, Axel. 2k13 is really good, the best 2k since 2k8 imho (from the improvements made). Good to see this one going though. Tough loss against the Spurs. Looks like a bit of luck would have won it for you.

I really like 2K13, especially the dribble moves, but I was starting to get used to 2K11's Isomotion. It's definitely tempting to start an association in that game.

Stress Fracture wrote:What a way to get Shado's first win. Damn.

Hey, Happy Holidays to you, Axel.!

For some reason Shado was possessed by Chris Paul that game. He was playing like a point guard!

I will change the difficulty I play on in 2K11. Currently play on All-Star with the sliders in CPU's favor, and even that isn't a challenge anymore (judging from the last two games). I will move up to Superstar and play around with the sliders using Sim as a base. Next update will probably take a while.

Behind Thabo Sefolosha's 15-point fourth quarter, the Rockets mounted a comeback. | It wouldn't have been possible without Kyle Lowry's 17 assists.Jason Terry had an excellent first half. | Caron Butler had an excellent second half, but Dallas could not get the win.

There was a diamond in the rough for the Rockets tonight. That diamond was Thabo Sefolosha. The Swiss swingman had the hot hand in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his season high 19 points, overshadowing Caron Butler's 11 fourth quarter points. Sefolosha shot an amazing 7/10 from the field.

"He was just on fire," Rockets head coach Rick Adelman said. "He played the entire fourth quarter. I had plans to put Shane [Battier] back in the game, but I ultimately opted not to since this was his night. He's definitely earned himself a few extra minutes the next few games"

"This wouldn't have been possible without Kyle [Lowry]. He was just giving us all the ball right where we wanted it. That kind of unselfish play got us the win tonight," Sefolosha himself had to say.

Dallas was in control almost the whole game, only allowing the Rockets to build their lead to as little as three while they held a nine point lead at one point. Dirk Nowitzki was consistent for them as he had a team high 21 points (9/15 shooting) and completed a double-double with 11 boards.

It appeared as though Dallas would pull away midway through the fourth, as they were up 90-84 with about four minutes left to play in the game. This was when Sefolosha came to play. He scored a three-pointer, then a dunk, then another three, to spark an extensive 15-0 run for Houston to make the score 99-90, turning the tables on the Mavericks.

"That was completely unexpected. I had told the guys to make sure they lockdown Kevin Martin. They did a good job of that, but the major damage came from someone else," Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said. "However, we needed to make our shots down the stretch, but ill-advised shot selection hampered our chance to win this one."

True to that, Rodrigue Beaubois (4/16 shooting) shot Dallas out of the game. During the run, he chucked up two ill-advised threes and a difficult layup in three straight possessions, opening a window for Houston to get through and take a 99-92 win.

Notes: Houston shot 44% from the field, Dallas shot 41%. Dallas built an early lead by forcing turnovers, racking up 10 steals for the game. Houston's bench provided 35 points to keep them in the game and ultimately take the win.

Great to see you getting some unexpected lift. Like in all 2k versions (dunno bout 2k13 though, haven't played against him), Dirk is not taking enough shots or difficult enough to guard. You could somehow say he is underrated in the game although his rating is okay. It's just that he does not really cause trouble guarding like IRL.

hova- wrote:Great to see you getting some unexpected lift. Like in all 2k versions (dunno bout 2k13 though, haven't played against him), Dirk is not taking enough shots or difficult enough to guard. You could somehow say he is underrated in the game although his rating is okay. It's just that he does not really cause trouble guarding like IRL.

Great wins, you're going strong.

Well, Dirk's jumper is unguardable, period. I was getting a hand in his face every jumper but he kept knocking them down. It's just the fact that he's not aggressive that makes him underrated in the game. He doesn't attack the basket, and doesn't attempt very many shots either. I may have to edit his tendencies just to make it more of a challenge guarding him next time I face him.

Martti. wrote:Odd to see the Rockets like they are in this story.

You're still going well.

Yeah I know. The fact that only Patrick Patterson is the only player here that's in the RL Rockets is odd. I don't mind it too much though, I'm more fond of this team than the RL one, it's better imo.

Lamrock wrote:Go Yao!

He's still awesome.

January recap next. It turns out I may actually have time to continue the Rocket Chapters, so stay tuned for one in the next few days!

The Rockets started off the year 2012 on a high note, going 14-4 in the month of January. They sit at 38-11, good for the best record in the Western Conference, with a relatively comfortable lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Again, it was Kevin Martin who carried the load offensively for Houston. Martin is currently averaging 30.2 points per game, which is good for second in the league behind Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant. Luis Scola had some good scoring outbursts this month, and he is continuing to rebound the ball at a consistent rate. Kyle Lowry and Yao Ming have also consistently chipped in their fair share as well. One key, is the Rockets bench. You can always rely on at least one player coming up big every game, and to add to that, Houston's second unit plays as a team.

Things continue to click for the Rockets, as they have good home and road records, 21-2 and 17-9 respectively. If they keep up their stellar play, an even better month of February is in store for them.

January's Hot Headlines

Disturbance in San Antonio's ChemistrySources say both George Hill and DeJuan Blair of the San Antonio Spurs are not satisfied in San Antonio. Both have stated their desire to be traded and play elsewhere. Their dissatisfaction is believed to be one reason for the Spurs' sub-par 24-25 record.

"The lack of a bigger role despite playing higher than others' standards is what's bothering me right now," Blair stated in a press conference after a win against the Houston Rockets. "There comes a point when you want to move to the starting lineup."

Center Nikola Vucevic is currently starting over Blair.

"I'm really not sure what he wants. I give him his minutes, and I even let him close out games with our superstars," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said in the team's defense.

Read more...

Debate: Rockets or Heat?Due to their comfortable leads over the second seeds of their respective conferences, there is debate all around the nation of which team is superior, the Houston Rockets or the Miami Heat. In addition, many believe this will be the NBA Finals matchup this year.

"The Rockets have more depth and size, while the Heat have more star power and defense. I'd say the Rockets would win this matchup. They have too many scoring options for the Heat to contain. They also play excellent team defense, which is what brought Miami down in last year's NBA Finals," TNT's Chris Webber said when asked his opinion.

"You can't go wrong with either team, but Miami's got two of the best players in the game. LeBron and Wade can do everything for the team, and everyone else just has to play their part," ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said.

Read more...

Kevin Martin, the MVP?NBA fans, especially those in Houston, are arguing Kevin Martin's case for MVP. The 28-year old two-guard is averaging 30.2 points per game, and has upped his rebounding and assists rate with 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

He might make a strong case, but Martin has stiff competition from LeBron James and Kevin Durant, both of whom are putting up better numbers and are arguably just as valuable to their respective teams as Martin is to the Houston Rockets.

Read more...

Lakers Have Found Their Point Guard of the FutureLos Angeles's Xavier Nelson, whom went 22nd overall to the Lakers in the 2011 draft, has proven to be an excellent find. Nelson is currently the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, averaging 15.1 points and 6.9 assists. This past month makes it the third consecutive time he wins Rookie of the Month honors.

"He's an excellent kid. He knows how to play and knows his role. There is certainly room for improvement, but these honors he's getting are definitely well-deserved," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said.

Read more...

Trade Deadline ApproachingWith the trade deadline only two weeks away, many teams have started to pursue deals to benefit them to finish the season. San Antonio is a top candidate to pull a deal thus far. Their sub-par season has raised questions about their ability to contend. Rumor has it that they may look to move George Hill and possibly Richard Jefferson. Something has to change in San Antonio; their reputation of being known as a winning team is on the line as the end of the season draws near.

Like last year, it is possible we may see a rush of trades before the deadline. There are plenty of other teams that have the pieces to pull a blockbuster deal.

Kyle Lowry had it going from outside. | Kevin Martin comes up with a huge dunk over Blake Griffin.Griffin got the last laugh as he led his team to a win. | Eric Gordon scored 35 points... on 40 shot attempts.

It had been a while since the Rockets were kept at bay like this. The Rockets never caught a glimpse of the lead. Thanks to Blake Griffin's consistent game, the Clippers were able to sneak by with a win. Griffin had 27 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.

Los Angeles built an early lead in the first, and it seemed as if they would not relinquish it. Eric Gordon had 25 first half points, but he was held to just 10 in the second half.

Occasionally, it would seem as if the Clippers were about to push their lead to double-digits, but Houston would counter with a run. When a layup from Griffin made the score 90-79 in the fourth quarter, things began to look grim for the Rockets. Behind Kevin Martin (team high 32 points), the Rockets built a 16-5 run to even the score at 95. From then on, both teams traded buckets, eventually getting to 99 even.

Two consecutive field goals from Griffin sealed the deal; with the score at 103-99 and only eight seconds left, the Rockets only managed to score a three-pointer to pull within one. Since they were not over the foul limit, they did not have time to intentionally foul twice as time ran out on them.

Notes: Houston shot the ball better at 48%, while the Clippers shot it at 45%. Houston also went 10/19 from beyond the arc, and the Clippers went an abysmal 3/16. The Clippers forced 13 Rocket turnovers, and had 12 offensive boards, their two biggest keys to keeping the Rockets at bay.

Gerald Wallace becomes Kevin Martin's poster victim. | Yao Ming made great plays down the stretchBrandon Roy fought hard to lead his team to victory. | LaMarcus Aldridge knocks down the three-point dagger.

In the past few years, the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trail Blazers have locked themselves into close battles, and this game was no different. Throughout the game, the lead was shared just about evenly. Portland's biggest lead was five, and Houston's biggest lead was four. Kevin Martin's early struggle was key for Portland's chances in this one. Through three quarters, Martin had scored just 11 points on 4/17 shooting. Martin went on to score 12 in the fourth quarter, converting on all four of his field goal attempts. He finished with 23 points on 8/21 shooting.

"You gotta give them credit. They knew my every move, and it was frustrating just trying to dribble the ball," Martin acknowledged Portland's defense, which ranks among one of the top five in the league.

Keeping the Rockets in it was Kyle Lowry and Courtney Lee. They scored 18 and 15 respectively, with Lowry draining four triples, three in the first half.

Portland was kept in it by LaMarcus Aldridge, who had a game high 37 points, with eight boards to accompany his huge point total. Brandon Roy helped round out his scoring with 28 of his own, on 9/21 shooting.

In the fourth quarter, Houston was able to take back the lead with a 14-6 run sparked by Lee. However, they coughed up the ball five times in the fourth, allowing Portland to stay at their level. The score tied at 101 with 55 seconds left, Roy knocked down two clutch free throws to make it 103-101. Yao Ming (12 points, eight boards, and three rejections), was double-teamed on the high post next possession, and he dished it to an open Luis Scola (10 points, five boards), who knocked it down from the baseline to tie the game once again.

In Portland's next possession, Houston played great defense not allowing them an easy shot. It led to Aldridge trapping himself behind the arc, and with two seconds on the shot clock, he had to take a three... and he sunk it. That put Portland up 106-101, and after Martin sunk a three at the other end, time wasn't on Houston's side anymore as they fell 108-104 at the Rose Garden. Their four-game road trip has come to a conclusion, as they went 2-2 with wins over Dallas and Memphis, but two consecutive losses against the Clippers and Portland.

Notes: Portland shot a blistering 53% while Houston shot 48%. Both teams were even in free throw shooting; Houston went 24/27, Portland went 25/28.

The new difficulty setting seems to pay off for your opponents. Still a great record - so no problem. 40 shots and 11 from downtown is insane. I hate that 2k always fucks up some of the two guards' tendencies. They shoot the ball way too often.